Page 21 of Say Nothing
Alison remained on her phone, trying to find out more about Weber.
"How’s your dad doing, apart from the obsession with your sister’s case?"Derek asked.
"I think he’s doing okay," Alison admitted."Sometimes, I think the only reason he’s doing so well is because of the case.He has something to fixate on and live for.I know that’s a morbid way of looking at it, but I get that impression."
"Death can do that to a person," Derek said."You don’t want to go on, but you find something to live for."
Alison, remember that Derek had lost his wife to cancer five years ago.
"Did—is that what you did?"she asked."I don't mean to pry into your personal life, so if you don't want to talk about it, feel free to tell me to shut up."
"No, it’s fine," he assured her."Her death is a part of who I am, and it always will be.When she died, as clichéd as it is, I threw myself into my work.I don't know what I might have done if I weren’t working this job.I have this purpose and a way to make the world a better place, and she always supported me in that.I knew I had to honor her memory.For the first couple of years, it was a great way to cope with what happened, and after that, I just let her go.It wasn’t a decision I ever made; I just stopped one day and realized that I’d made my peace with it."
"That’s really nice," Alison said."I was the same after my sister was killed.I had some direction in life before that, but not like I have now.I knew I wanted justice, but I couldn’t get it for her, so I sought it for others.That pushed me into criminology and then forensic psychology.I thought that I could honor her memory by helping other people."
"And have you?"Derek asked.
A police car with sirens blaring tore past them in the opposite direction.
"Yeah, I think I have," she told him."Maybe my father has, too.He was a cop for some years after her death until his retirement.I really hope I can bring him some peace before he passes.That’s some time away, but it will happen eventually."
"There’s something noble about taking something as terrible as death and using it for good," Derek said."I truly believe both of us are making the city a better place, and when we team up?Wow, do we ever do an amazing job!"
"We do, don't we?"Alison replied."Let’s do that one more time and stop this evil person from killing again.I don't like the thought of it resting on my conscience.And I know it’s not my fault, but I also know that when I get the killer, the killing stops."
"We’ll get them together," Derek told her.
"Here’s something," Alison said, scrolling through the posts on her phone.
"What?"
"He was active on social media for a while after being fired from his job," Alison said."He mentions theLiarsquite a few times.And how they destroyed his career."
"So, the exit was far from amicable?"
"It seems that way.He was obviously fired for a good reason, going by my contact, but Weber obviously didn't think so.There’s more here.It’s all so clichéd—posts about making them pay, thinly veiled threats, all without naming who he’s talking about, but with the way he was fired, it’s obviously the prison administration."
"Would that be enough to set him on this path?"Derek asked."He gets fired, so he decides to kill women who put people in jail after hearing about them from some inmates?"
"People have killed for less," Alison admitted."It’s not the strongest motive, but we don't know yet what he was involved in at the prison.If he got caught up with some criminals, and they had enough to blackmail him, maybe they would use that to get him to take revenge for them."
"Let’s find out," Derek said."That’s the building ahead."
They approached the large brick building, which had no signs out front advertising a security company.Derek parked the car a block from the building when he found a space, and they walked the rest of the way.
They entered the building and were met with an empty entranceway.A sign on the wall displayed which businesses were on which floor and in which room.The security company, SecureTech, was on the second floor.Alison and Derek took the stairs up.
There, they were finally met with a reception desk.A young man in a suit was behind the desk, but he had the air of someone who was more than a receptionist.He drank an energy drink as he watched them approach the desk.
Behind him, there were two desks and two doors leading to other rooms.One other suited man sat at one of the desks.Neither of the men was Jason Weber.Alison got the impression that the suited men were partners in the company with Jason, and they were doing everything as they grew the company before hiring more employees.
"I’m Special Agent Sullivan," Derek announced, showing his badge at the desk."We’re looking for Jason Weber."
"Yeah, of course," the man said before taking another swig of his energy drink."Let me just call his office and get him out here.What’s Jason done now?"
"We just want to talk with him," Derek said.
"Yeah, no worries," the man replied.He picked up the phone and held one of the buttons down."Hey, Jason, there’s a special agent out here who wants to talk with you…Yeah, I’ll let him know."
